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Minnie nodded and drew closer. Concern still drifted through her eyes, but she thankfully didn’t address Elizabeth’s tomato-colored face. “Are you ready to prepare for bed, My Lady?”
“Yes, I suppose that should be the best, shouldn’t it?”
Otherwise I think I might find myself going in search of William.
This entire day had been far too exhausting, trying to quell that urge.
Minnie came to stand before Elizabeth as she stood. In silence, she proceeded to aid Elizabeth in getting into her nightgown, after which she lit the candles by her bedside and turned to bid her goodnight. Elizabeth didn’t miss the curious glances that had been thrown her way but she didn’t have the power to focus much on it. Right now, every ounce of her strength was going into remaining in her room and not going to find William.
Elizabeth crawled into bed, getting under the covers. She laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling.
What would have happened had he kissed me? Would that mean that he feels something for me again? Why did he step away?
The questions consumed every bit of her thoughts until Elizabeth thought she might drive herself insane. She rolled onto her side, wanting to ask him all these questions. But Minnie’s words were still stark in her mind. She couldn’t latch on to him if she wanted him to grow fond of her once more. That would only lead to the opposite.
I did not think it would be this hard. Is it so wrong to want to spend most of my time with the man I love?
Elizabeth tried to ignore the true question that whispered in a corner of her mind.
Is it right of me to still be in love with a man who’d left me behind without so much as a word for seven years?
It was the only thing she couldn’t answer and didn’t care to. Matters of the heart was not something that could be defined clearly and if she attempted to do so, she would only drive herself insane.
But thinking about the look in William’s eyes was enough to do the same. After a while, Elizabeth couldn’t take it anymore. She got out of bed, picked up one of the candles by her bed and made for the door.
She needed to find him. As for what she would say, that was something she’d figure out along the way.
Elizabeth made her way to his study first, and after knocking for a while, she went in to see that it was empty. At a loss now, and not wanting to disturb the servants, she retraced her steps, trying to think of the places he might be. The manor was far too large for her to check every room.
As she continued on, Elizabeth began to lose her confidence and she still hadn’t thought of what she would say when she saw him. In the center of a long hallway, she drew to a stop and sighed, nearly putting out her candle’s flame in the process. She should return to her room, she thought, and simply try to sleep.
There is very little point in this.
The moment the words crossed her mind, Elizabeth noticed a sliver of golden light peeking out from under a door a short distance ahead. Curious, she drew closer and began to hear muffled grunts, as if someone was fighting.
Elizabeth approached the door slowly. She noticed that it was not fully closed—a single push would reveal whoever was making those sounds on the other end. Her began racing, sensing who it might be. Her mouth went dry and with a trembling hand, she pushed against the wooden door.
The room was bathed in candlelight and its reddish-orange glow escaped past the threshold when she opened the door. Elizabeth saw nothing but those candles at first and so she inched closer, peeking around to take in the rest of the room.
What she saw made her heart stop in her chest.
William was in the center of the room—wearing nothing but a pair of trousers. Sweat glistened off his broad muscular back, moving with every prance he made forward, with every jab of his arm. It took a moment to realize that he held a fencing foil in his hand and was whipping the dangerous-looking sword around as if it was nothing but a useless piece of metal. The power with which he wielded the weapon, the control that trembled through every exposed muscle of his back, had heat pooling in the pit of Elizabeth’s stomach.
She knew that she should step away. She knew that watching a half-naked man practice his fencing in the dead of night was the very last thing she should do as a lady. But Elizabeth could not find the strength in her. She could neither enter the room nor could she exit. Only stand there with her mouth agape, her tongue drying at the sight before her.
